Master's Degree in Museum Studies

The M.A. in Museum Studies is offered by Marist College and Istituto Lorenzo de' Medici at the Marist-LdM Florence Branch Campus in Italy. This degree program has been designed to meet the academic needs of qualified students from around the world.

The M.A. in Museum Studies is an interdisciplinary advanced degree program which aims to provide students with an understanding of how museums operate within their social and cultural contexts. Drawing on faculty from the U.S., U.K. and continental Europe, courses are taught using a variety of innovative methods, yet they share two fundamental core principles which are embedded in the program’s philosophy: 1) museums’ engagement with the public is paramount and 2) museums vary greatly across the globe and therefore must be studied from an international comparative perspective.

Located in Florence, Italy, one of the world’s most important museum centers, the program offers unparalleled learning and internship opportunities. Guest lectures by museum professionals expose students to a wide variety of international perspectives, widening their horizons while visits to museums, historical monuments, archives, libraries, and relevant non-profit institutions essentially use Florence as a classroom, integrating students within the city and offering them hands-on exposure to real world museum research and practices. Both the lectures and the visits facilitate the important transition from student to museum professional at the termination of the degree program.

The program, which will be taught in collaboration with the University of Florence and the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, additionally seeks to position itself as a much-needed forum for reflection and debate on museological issues in the city.

MUSEUM STUDIES CURRICULUMThe Museum Studies curriculum is designed to give students a strong knowledge base of the professional field of museology. This advanced degree will position graduates for successful careers in the museum industry. To accomplish this, the academic year consists of three terms totaling 34 credits: Fall (13 credits), Spring (13 credits), and Summer (8 credits). For the Fall 2015 semester an optional, highly recommended 3 credit course will be available titled, Italian for Museum Studies I. If students decide to take this in the Fall 2015 semester they will be taking 16 credits, as opposed to 13. For the Spring 2016 semester, an optional, highly recommended 3 credit course will be available titled, Italian for Museum Studies II. If students decide to take this in the Spring 2016 semester they will be taking 16 credits as opposed to 13.

PROGRAM CURRICULUMITC 512: Italian for Museum Studies I ITC 612: Italian for Museum Studies IIARTM 501L: Museums and the Public I: People and Ideas ARTM 502L: Museums, Galleries, and the History of Collecting ARTM 503L: Museum Development, Management, and Leadership ARTM 504L: Art and Objects in Museums and in Context ARTM 507L: Research Methods I: Methodology and Resources ARTM 601L: Museums and the Public II: Objects and Audience ARTM 607L: Research Methods II: Thesis Proposal ARTM 620L: Internship ARTM 625L: Thesis